Also regarding the COK-GAU route, I wonder if this is got to do with the large scale migration of workers from North-East to Kerala for better employment opportunities. I remember some Mallu mates sort of cribbing about a large number of such workers form Bengal/North-East India in Kerala and their inability to communicate properly with locals, and many also apparently from Bangladesh!

Going by that, I wonder if there will soon also be Kochi- Kolkata/ Dhaka flights too.

With all the North connections to BLR/MAA/HYD of late, it looks like there is a huge migration happening from the North to South rather than the other way round. After all the southern cities seem to be doing economically and progressively much better than the North, and they always have been .

Also regarding the COK-GAU route, I wonder if this is got to do with the large scale migration of workers from North-East to Kerala for better employment opportunities. I remember some Mallu mates sort of cribbing about a large number of such workers form Bengal/North-East India in Kerala and their inability to communicate properly with locals, and many also apparently from Bangladesh!

Going by that, I wonder if there will soon also be Kochi- Kolkata/ Dhaka flights too.

With all the North connections to BLR/MAA/HYD of late, it looks like there is a huge migration happening from the North to South rather than the other way round. After all the southern cities seem to be doing economically and progressively much better than the North, and they always have been .

Or the growing spending power of people of northeast, so that they can spend on tourism and leisure in states like Kerala. There has been a general growth in aviation in these areas, with multiple daily frequencies to across India, not just the south.

Also regarding the COK-GAU route, I wonder if this is got to do with the large scale migration of workers from North-East to Kerala for better employment opportunities. I remember some Mallu mates sort of cribbing about a large number of such workers form Bengal/North-East India in Kerala and their inability to communicate properly with locals, and many also apparently from Bangladesh!

Going by that, I wonder if there will soon also be Kochi- Kolkata/ Dhaka flights too.

With all the North connections to BLR/MAA/HYD of late, it looks like there is a huge migration happening from the North to South rather than the other way round. After all the southern cities seem to be doing economically and progressively much better than the North, and they always have been .

Migration is definitely the main reason. Construction workers in large projects in the south are almost exclusively sourced from the north and north east these days.

Migration is definitely the main reason. Construction workers in large projects in the south are almost exclusively sourced from the north and north east these days.

Does that mean there's some kind of brain drain to Gulf? Majority of skilled workers working in Gulf are from southern India working on large projects in Gulf with better pay, creating an absence in the are which is fulfilled by lesser skilled workers from eastern India (and Bangladesh).

Migration is definitely the main reason. Construction workers in large projects in the south are almost exclusively sourced from the north and north east these days.

Does that mean there's some kind of brain drain to Gulf? Majority of skilled workers working in Gulf are from southern India working on large projects in Gulf with better pay, creating an absence in the are which is fulfilled by lesser skilled workers from eastern India (and Bangladesh).

People in Kerala are too educated to menial jobs within the state (They will do anything once they cross the state border :p). However, between too much education and strong communist roots which ensured high wages for everyone, its become an attractive option for people from the rest of India. Agriculture has almost become unviable cos of these wages. Most of the migrants are low skilled farm laborers or into construction (someone has to make palatial homes with all the NRI monies). There are some software professionals too in Cochin and Trivandrum and few in the hospitality segments. but those numbers are minuscule compared to low skilled laborers.

This is NAC for BOM (No date given, but assuming its around the same date as above)

That shows a lack of airport capacity clearly.

People pay a premium to fly 7am to 9pm. They will avoid flying at really bad times (all that is left).

It is interesting how the European curfews distort operations and result in the 3am to 4am slots being filled. Growth will slow when only back of the clock slots are available. The new airport couldn't come in time.

Lightsaber

IM messages to mods on warnings and bans will be ignored and nasty ones will result in a ban.

This is NAC for BOM (No date given, but assuming its around the same date as above)

That shows a lack of airport capacity clearly.

People pay a premium to fly 7am to 9pm. They will avoid flying at really bad times (all that is left).

It is interesting how the European curfews distort operations and result in the 3am to 4am slots being filled. Growth will slow when only back of the clock slots are available. The new airport couldn't come in time.

Lightsaber

Considering that more than 50% of slots are held by airlines that are 'bankcrupt', it seems like monopoly money is distorting the asset.

But fair points regarding the European curfew's. One workaround, ofcourse, is more p2p services to N America. However that will require adjustments to both US as well as Indian carriers. Unfortunately, most Indian carriers are not financially solid to start something like this anytime soon.

This is NAC for BOM (No date given, but assuming its around the same date as above)

That shows a lack of airport capacity clearly.

People pay a premium to fly 7am to 9pm. They will avoid flying at really bad times (all that is left).

It is interesting how the European curfews distort operations and result in the 3am to 4am slots being filled. Growth will slow when only back of the clock slots are available. The new airport couldn't come in time.

Lightsaber

I thought most of the Euro flights leave before 3am (like 2:45am). And the ME3 flights leave in the 4am zone. So who is filling up the 3am slots? Is that where Jet and others run domestic connectors for international pax so the airport blocks international airlines from flying then?

I thought most of the Euro flights leave before 3am (like 2:45am). And the ME3 flights leave in the 4am zone. So who is filling up the 3am slots? Is that where Jet and others run domestic connectors for international pax so the airport blocks international airlines from flying then?

^^ I really dont know why you guys keep answering him..all i have seen him is saying absolute B.S and shows NO PROOF of ANYTHING he says. I am still waiting for his claim to be proven that STV/BDQ (or whatever town) provide 30% of BOM/DEL traffic. Hes gone even more low by comparing SAG with BOM (Yikes to that). Now if he has any worthy point to discuss lets discuss, or else just stop replying to him.

Impressive!!! Who would have thought GAU-Kochi makes commercial sense just a few years back too...?

Kochi doesn't have non stop flight connectivity to even CCU. IndiGo is scheduled to begin the first service on this route from 30OCT18.

The number of "bengalis" (the wider term used by Mallus to refer to everyone from Bihar/ Orisa/ WB/ Assam/ NE etc.) working in Kerala is astounding. While they may not be the target of this flight, I'm sure there's some bit of the labor traffic (perhaps the "managers") that will benefit from the flight.

The number of "bengalis" (the wider term used by Mallus to refer to everyone from Bihar/ Orisa/ WB/ Assam/ NE etc.) working in Kerala is astounding. While they may not be the target of this flight, I'm sure there's some bit of the labor traffic (perhaps the "managers") that will benefit from the flight.

I flew DEL-CJB a couple of months back. Seated next to me was a construction worker from rural Bihar who had taken an overnight train to Patna and was flying PAT-DEL-CJB. Migrant labourers do take flights, may be they are still out of reach for those at the lowest rung but even those who are one rung above are taking to planes in increasing numbers.

L&T are currently building the 2nd Parallel runway, associated TWY's & T2 apron for ₹1358 crores. 2nd RWY to be operational btw OCT-DEC 2019. The following pic taken a few days ago at BLR airport office

I flew DEL-CJB a couple of months back. Seated next to me was a construction worker from rural Bihar who had taken an overnight train to Patna and was flying PAT-DEL-CJB. Migrant labourers do take flights, may be they are still out of reach for those at the lowest rung but even those who are one rung above are taking to planes in increasing numbers.

Interesting - thanks for sharing this anecdote. Now the GAU-COK flights start to make a lot of sense!

I flew DEL-CJB a couple of months back. Seated next to me was a construction worker from rural Bihar who had taken an overnight train to Patna and was flying PAT-DEL-CJB. Migrant labourers do take flights, may be they are still out of reach for those at the lowest rung but even those who are one rung above are taking to planes in increasing numbers.

Also, at times, the bigger companies do pay for the transport partly or wholly to get the labourers as part of the contract with them, be it air or rail. Air travel works out better to woo these labourers and avoids the issues like the waiting list for train seats. The cost of local labour being much higher in the south, makes these companies desperate for these labourers from elsewhere and provide these allowances to get them to the south.

Does anyone know how Singapore and Cathay decide which airlines from their groups fly to different cities in India?

Specifically, I was curious to find out why Singapore flies under its own name as well as sending Scoot and SilkAir to Bangalore, but only the two latter to Hyderabad.

Conversely, Cathay flies its parent brand to Hyderabad but Dragon to Bangalore.

This has nothing to do with any bilateral, does it?

Bilateral's encompass all the airlines equally (usually, politics aside) of the said country under the agreement, so no, nothing to do with that.

SQ and CX deploy their capacity between the parent and subsidiary depending on how they want to fragment the market. Since the two themselves are too premium , and exclusively fly widebodies, they use their subs.

Usually the biggest two metro's - BOM/DEL- get exclusively the main parent carriers. The other metro's get varied services since premium demand is there albeit smaller than the biggest two metro's along with lot of leisure/migrant/VFR/Student low fare paying pax, so it allows them to fragment those markets by using their subsidiaries.So they don't have it fixed for the metros like BLR/CCU/MAA/HYD, and can send more than one of their airlines their, like SQ does.

Does anyone know how Singapore and Cathay decide which airlines from their groups fly to different cities in India?

Specifically, I was curious to find out why Singapore flies under its own name as well as sending Scoot and SilkAir to Bangalore, but only the two latter to Hyderabad.

Conversely, Cathay flies its parent brand to Hyderabad but Dragon to Bangalore.

This has nothing to do with any bilateral, does it?

Bilateral's encompass all the airlines equally (usually, politics aside) of the said country under the agreement, so no, nothing to do with that.

....Usually the biggest two metro's - BOM/DEL- get exclusively the main parent carriers. The other metro's get varied services since premium demand is there albeit smaller than the biggest two metro's along with lot of leisure/migrant/VFR/Student low fare paying pax, so it allows them to fragment those markets by using their subsidiaries.So they don't have it fixed for the metros like BLR/CCU/MAA/HYD, and can send more than one of their airlines their, like SQ does.

Thanks. I was thinking along these lines, but it seems weird that Singapore has captured most of the Eastbound premium demand in Bangalore (SQ wide bodies) and not in Hyderabad, while Cathay has captured that in Hyderabad but not in Bangalore. That seems a little too polarized for premium demand.

Does anyone know how Singapore and Cathay decide which airlines from their groups fly to different cities in India?

Specifically, I was curious to find out why Singapore flies under its own name as well as sending Scoot and SilkAir to Bangalore, but only the two latter to Hyderabad.

Conversely, Cathay flies its parent brand to Hyderabad but Dragon to Bangalore.

This has nothing to do with any bilateral, does it?

Bilateral's encompass all the airlines equally (usually, politics aside) of the said country under the agreement, so no, nothing to do with that.

....Usually the biggest two metro's - BOM/DEL- get exclusively the main parent carriers. The other metro's get varied services since premium demand is there albeit smaller than the biggest two metro's along with lot of leisure/migrant/VFR/Student low fare paying pax, so it allows them to fragment those markets by using their subsidiaries.So they don't have it fixed for the metros like BLR/CCU/MAA/HYD, and can send more than one of their airlines their, like SQ does.

Thanks. I was thinking along these lines, but it seems weird that Singapore has captured most of the Eastbound premium demand in Bangalore (SQ wide bodies) and not in Hyderabad, while Cathay has captured that in Hyderabad but not in Bangalore. That seems a little too polarized for premium demand.

Wrt to HKG, HYD HKG is 4x weekly if im not wrong whereas from BLR its served daily by KA A333 and then we have 9W & 6E planning BLR HKG flights this WS. AFAIK the BLR HKG premium pax is high compared to HYD (in Q2 2018). But I'm not aware of the total year stats fir premium pax.

Bilateral's encompass all the airlines equally (usually, politics aside) of the said country under the agreement, so no, nothing to do with that.

....Usually the biggest two metro's - BOM/DEL- get exclusively the main parent carriers. The other metro's get varied services since premium demand is there albeit smaller than the biggest two metro's along with lot of leisure/migrant/VFR/Student low fare paying pax, so it allows them to fragment those markets by using their subsidiaries.So they don't have it fixed for the metros like BLR/CCU/MAA/HYD, and can send more than one of their airlines their, like SQ does.

Thanks. I was thinking along these lines, but it seems weird that Singapore has captured most of the Eastbound premium demand in Bangalore (SQ wide bodies) and not in Hyderabad, while Cathay has captured that in Hyderabad but not in Bangalore. That seems a little too polarized for premium demand.

Wrt to HKG, HYD HKG is 4x weekly if im not wrong whereas from BLR its served daily by KA A333 and then we have 9W & 6E planning BLR HKG flights this WS. AFAIK the BLR HKG premium pax is high compared to HYD (in Q2 2018). But I'm not aware of the total year stats fir premium pax.

At the risk of belabouring the point, I’m still not sure why Cathay (Full Service parent) flies to Hyderabad while Dragon (lower cost sub?) flies to Bangalore. What you write above increases the puzzling nature of this Cathay group choice. I’ll stop here.

At the risk of belabouring the point, I’m still not sure why Cathay (Full Service parent) flies to Hyderabad while Dragon (lower cost sub?) flies to Bangalore. What you write above increases the puzzling nature of this Cathay group choice. I’ll stop here.

Maybe the absence of SQ wide bodies at HYD has given CX a chance to serve the HYD-HKG route well having a full monopoly, mainly catering the US west coast market. Even HYD is an IT hub, and so has demand to the IT hubs in US. At BLR the SQ group dominates well, so the Dragon service by CX. All this just my take on it.

I believe someone mentioned once in this forum that HKG has 3 + 3 cities daily bilateral with India with those 3 each being granted to two different airlines. Hence CX flies to 3 cities and KA flies the other 3 cities. Both BLR and HYD get the A330 from KA and CX respectively although not sure if one is regional and the other is in long haul config or both regional.

I believe someone mentioned once in this forum that HKG has 3 + 3 cities daily bilateral with India with those 3 each being granted to two different airlines. Hence CX flies to 3 cities and KA flies the other 3 cities. Both BLR and HYD get the A330 from KA and CX respectively although not sure if one is regional and the other is in long haul config or both regional.

CX flies to 4 cities in India - MAA, BOM, HYD, DEL. KA flies to the other 2. So not sure about the 3+3.

On the topic of CX and KA, CX will upgauge MAA/BOM/DEL-HKG to B777-300ER from A330 this winter.

A few major new routes from AI, including those previously announced along with new ones, are now confirmed. These include BOM-FRA, BOM-JFK, BLR-LHR, BLR-BKK, and CCU-BKK.

Wow - I expect a blood bath on BLR-BKK/ BLR-SIN sectors with AI/ IX entering and competing now with the LCCs from South East Asia + 6E + 9W! BLR-LHR is mighty unexpected too - what happened to "hub DEL"?